3) There are carnal, immature Christians.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 tells us:
1 ¶ And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive
it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?
These immature Christians attend church and listen to the Bible, yet they are not considered spiritually mature.
Why are they immature?
1) They can't handle difficult doctrine.
2) They have internal strife
3) They act like mere men.
4) They are followers of men.
There is a teaching that when a person accepts Christ, he immediately
becomes an immature Christian. If he turns back or refuses to grow, he
becomes a carnal Christian. However, I cannot find any Biblical
justification for belief. 1 Corinthians 3:1 shows that a carnal Christian and a baby Christian are the same thing.
Unlike tares, immature Christians really are saved. In verse 4, Paul quotes some as saying "I am of Paul." The Greek for "I am" is "Ego eime," which is used as the Greek translation for the Old Testament Name of God "YHWH." Jesus used the phrase several times to refer to Himself. It shows emphasis on the person, and perhaps pride. Paul goes on to explain that God uses different people to do different tasks, and that anything good in either him or Apollos came from God. This would help explain their immaturity: they might have been rejecting the work of God if it came through someone they didn't like.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Works of the Flesh
2) The works of the flesh PROVE a person to be a tare.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Most of the sins of the flesh fall into three categories:
a) sexual immorality
b) Christian infighting (selfish ambition & strife)
c) wild living
Notice in verse 20 that "selfish ambitions" is a work of the flesh. The King James Version translates the same word as "strifes." Which is right? M. R. Vincent's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament shows that both translations are correct. He writes: "Strife (eritheia)
More correctly, factions. From erithos a hired servant. Erithia is, primarily, labor for hire(see Tobit. 2:11), and is applied to those who serve in official positions for hire or for other selfish purposes, and, in order to gain their ends, promote party spirit or faction."Strong's Greek dictionary states that the word is better translated "intrigue." The person referred to here is using church office to attain sinful goals. Those goals might be money, prestige, power, dominance, etc., but we are assured in the passage that these people will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Most of the sins of the flesh fall into three categories:
a) sexual immorality
b) Christian infighting (selfish ambition & strife)
c) wild living
Notice in verse 20 that "selfish ambitions" is a work of the flesh. The King James Version translates the same word as "strifes." Which is right? M. R. Vincent's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament shows that both translations are correct. He writes: "Strife (eritheia)
More correctly, factions. From erithos a hired servant. Erithia is, primarily, labor for hire(see Tobit. 2:11), and is applied to those who serve in official positions for hire or for other selfish purposes, and, in order to gain their ends, promote party spirit or faction."Strong's Greek dictionary states that the word is better translated "intrigue." The person referred to here is using church office to attain sinful goals. Those goals might be money, prestige, power, dominance, etc., but we are assured in the passage that these people will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Tares
The purpose of this site is to provide answers to difficult problems that mature Christians have. The first one deals with the question of why we see so much evil in the lives of people who profess to be Christians, and who claim to have been saved for years.
It includes the problems of dirty church politics, Christian backstabbing, and people who seize control of good churches. I hope it is helpful to you.
1) There MUST be tares.
In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told this parable:
24 ¶ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
28 "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'
29 "But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
Tares were common in Palestine back then, even as they are now. They are a form of grass called "darnel." Darnel looks and acts like wheat. It thrives or fails in the same soil conditions, weather, and rainfall as wheat.
Even an expert cannot tell them apart, until they produce fruit. Darnel produces a poisonous grain. When accidentally threshed and mixed with wheat, the combined flour produces a bread that produces headaches and nausea.
After sowing the tares, SATAN LEAVES! He does not train them; we do. We, the people of God, train the tares in Scripture, church government, Christian service, etc. The tares look and act like wheat. They thrive and grow like wheat. They become deacons, teachers, committee leaders, and even pastors like wheat. They study the Bible, turn from sin, and even win souls like wheat.
A common misinterpretation of this parable is that we should not root out the tares, because we can't tell the difference between them and wheat. But if you read the story carefully, you'll see that the servants COULD tell the difference, but only after the fruit had been produced.
The problem was that the roots of the tares were so intertwined with the roots of the wheat that if you started accusing faithful church members of being tares, you would destroy genuine Christians who had been misled by them.
Another common misinterpretation is that the Owner is only talking to angels. But the word "servants" is often used in parables for soul-winners, and that's who the Owner is talking to. The Owner explains to the servants that at the harvest, He will have the "reapers" separate the two. He tells His servants not to uproot the tares, because that will do more harm than good.
We have to realize that we will have lost people in our churches who will sometimes rise to positions of leadership. Sometimes genuine Christians will be hurt by them. Remember that God didn't fail. He is Good, and His Word is good. It is Satan, waging war against God and His saints, who is to blame for what went wrong.
Satan doesn't train them; we do.
They look and behave like wheat.
They produce poisonous fruit.
Their roots are intertwined with the wheat.
You CAN tell the difference.
You can't uproot them.
It includes the problems of dirty church politics, Christian backstabbing, and people who seize control of good churches. I hope it is helpful to you.
1) There MUST be tares.
In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told this parable:
24 ¶ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
28 "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'
29 "But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
Tares were common in Palestine back then, even as they are now. They are a form of grass called "darnel." Darnel looks and acts like wheat. It thrives or fails in the same soil conditions, weather, and rainfall as wheat.
Even an expert cannot tell them apart, until they produce fruit. Darnel produces a poisonous grain. When accidentally threshed and mixed with wheat, the combined flour produces a bread that produces headaches and nausea.
After sowing the tares, SATAN LEAVES! He does not train them; we do. We, the people of God, train the tares in Scripture, church government, Christian service, etc. The tares look and act like wheat. They thrive and grow like wheat. They become deacons, teachers, committee leaders, and even pastors like wheat. They study the Bible, turn from sin, and even win souls like wheat.
A common misinterpretation of this parable is that we should not root out the tares, because we can't tell the difference between them and wheat. But if you read the story carefully, you'll see that the servants COULD tell the difference, but only after the fruit had been produced.
The problem was that the roots of the tares were so intertwined with the roots of the wheat that if you started accusing faithful church members of being tares, you would destroy genuine Christians who had been misled by them.
Another common misinterpretation is that the Owner is only talking to angels. But the word "servants" is often used in parables for soul-winners, and that's who the Owner is talking to. The Owner explains to the servants that at the harvest, He will have the "reapers" separate the two. He tells His servants not to uproot the tares, because that will do more harm than good.
We have to realize that we will have lost people in our churches who will sometimes rise to positions of leadership. Sometimes genuine Christians will be hurt by them. Remember that God didn't fail. He is Good, and His Word is good. It is Satan, waging war against God and His saints, who is to blame for what went wrong.
Satan doesn't train them; we do.
They look and behave like wheat.
They produce poisonous fruit.
Their roots are intertwined with the wheat.
You CAN tell the difference.
You can't uproot them.
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